The Night My Heart Stood Still

Last night was the scariest night of my life. Everything was normal and we were ten minutes from bedtime when Demitri pulled the television onto himself in our bedroom. I did not see it happen but the tv is on top of a dresser so he must have tried to climb up the drawers. Our tv is about 30 inches and must weigh fifty pounds and he was pinned under it. I lifted it off of him and screamed for Joe. Joe lifted him up and there was blood everywhere. I called 911 and they gave us some instructions to apply pressure and the firemen and ambulance were there in less than two minutes.

Demitri never lost consciousness and he was acting like himself but they wanted to take him to the only level 1 trauma center in our county just to be safe. So they tied him down to the neck board, which he hated and loaded him into the ambulance. All of our neighbors were outside and worried. Four of them actually offered to drive Joe to the hospital.

D cried for a couple of minutes in the ambulace but then we were singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and ABC’s and then he realized that he was IN an ambulance and that the sirens were for him. He thought that was super cool.

We got to UCI Medical Center at about 1015pm. They rushed us into the trauma room and there were about twelve people waiting for us. They put in an IV, they bagged him for urine, cut off his jammies and took a chest x-ray all within five minutes. Demitri was scared but Dora and Boots were on the ceiling so he was intrigued. They then told me that they needed a head cat scan and that he would need to stay still and would probably need to medicate him. He was being so good and he and I were singing that they asked if I would be able to keep him still. I said that we should give it a try. We went off to CT scan and I have never been so proud in my life. He and I went in and he listened to my directions and kept his eyes closed and layed so still and did not talk and they were able to get the scan. I was able to keep my self composed until this point. When we got back to the trauma room I went and locked myself in the bathroom and broke down. I could not believe what had happened.

The CT was normal so it was time to stitch up the laceration. First attempt with a local anesthetic was a no go. D wouldn’t even let them clean the wound. They then gave him a little bit of versed (sp?) to take the edge of. He giggled and giggled but still would not let them clean the wound. He was papoosed and would wiggle out of it. That’s when the head doc came in and discussed the only other option…sedation. I did not want to do that but there was no choice so I signed the papers. They gave him the amount for his weight and we waited ….nothing. A little bit more….no effect. Some more…..getting a little sleepy. Some more waiting and they started stitching and he woke up and some more meds. They gave D meds for someone almost twice his weight and he still was not all the way out. He has a high tolerance. We were released at almost 3 am. The staff fell in love with him. He named his nurse Uncle Bob. His name was not Bob lol. D said thank you and hi to everybody who walked in the room. People gave him toys, and teddy bears and books. He got to watch Shrek on his own personal tv and drink apple juice after his stitches.

Had a little more drama when we got home, Demitri vomited the apple juice that they had given him all over the bed. The hing that worried me was that there were chunks of blood in the vomit but I called and talked to the doc who said not to worry unless he kept doing it and was not acting like himself.

Demitri got 4 internal stitches and 4 external stitches. They need to be removed in five days. We have to go and see our pedi on Tuesday.

I will be doing a major childproofing of the house in the next few weeks. This was too close for my comfort. The nurse told me that they saw two kids die from tv injuries this year.

Here is a picture of D all drugged up and waiting to go home. He was playing with the tv that they wheeled into his room.